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Jimmy Edgar, though now based in Berlin, is among the next generation of artists from Detroit with much to live up to, and much weight on their shoulders. Luckily, he and his contemporaries carry it. But how far does May think we have come in that time, and what might the future hold? DJ Mag USA sits in as Derrick and Jimmy put the world of techno to rights...
Jimmy: “Hey Derrick, did you just get back from somewhere?”
Derrick: “Well, five days ago I was in Japan for two or three days, then I busted off to Romania. And then to London. And then I got held over in Frankfurt for an extra day. So I just got home last night, and I’m leaving again tomorrow for Paris. But my daughter is here, so I have to see her. She’s eight-years-old, so I can’t just be away like that. There was a time when I could. But be careful what you wish for, right?”
Jimmy: “So how do you like it after all these years coming back to Detroit? I found it a bit daunting, those years of doing all the travel...”
Derrick: “Well at one point, I did actually do something about it. And I decided I was going to give living in Europe a shot. So I moved to Amsterdam, but before Amsterdam, I lived in West London for a short stint. Almost a year. I was living in a kind of commune for artists owned by Sarah Gregory, whose husband is, of all people, Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17. So I got to know him too. She would fly back with us to Detroit, and she did a huge mural for our club the Music Institute. She did the artwork for my 12” ‘The Beginning’. I became friends with Baby Ford and Mark Moore, it was a great time to be there. It was essential to be with some of the creatives from that time. That was 1989. “From there I went to Amsterdam. This was before the DJing phenomenon took off, before there was even, like, record bags. Someone said, ‘Derrick, would you like to go to Amsterdam and play a party?’ I said, ‘Amsterdam? Yes!’ I didn’t care about the money, the hotel, I didn’t know about getting dinner, I didn’t know about anything. I just wanted to go. So I played this party, the guy was called Eddy de Clerq, and it was at the Roxy Club. It was like Heaven in London or The Music Institute in Detroit. It was the pivotal club. It was a magical night. And I totally fell in love with the city. People riding bikes, amazing girls. It was a sunny day, probably the biggest con of my life, because I didn’t realize that the weather in Amsterdam was so shitty! “I spent two years living there, and lived in Europe for almost nine years. So I know how you feel, being outside. I get it. I like to come home. I’ve built foundations here. Otherwise, I’d be gone again too. But I like to put my time in, in Detroit.”
Jimmy: “I tell myself that I’ll put my time in here in Europe, and then come home to Detroit. Right now I’m pretty happy here.”
Derrick: “For you now, there are more conveniences. Europe has changed. English is now spoken unlike any time before. So now you can move quicker and easier around the world and really enjoy yourself. “When I started travelling, for example, in Germany there was no-one speaking English. It just wasn’t happening. In France, you didn’t hear anyone speaking English, and you had to have some back-up on the language. You had to hope that you ran across people that were cool,
errick May can trace his involvement in techno back to year one. With Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, he formed the vanguard of a revolution with his pivotal Transmat label and work as Rhythim Is Rhythim. Fast forward 25 or so years and
otherwise you would not have a good time, and you would not eat good. “You’re living in a more international world than I was. I was living in a more isolated European mentality.”
Jimmy: “One thing I always wondered is, what’s stopping you getting back into the studio with the old gear and just rocking out some new tracks?”
Derrick: “I don’t think I really want to. I was just looking at a keyboard today and telling a friend I’d found something I wanted to buy. It had taken ages. And then I realized the keyboard doesn’t have any internal sounds. You need a computer and a programme attached to it. It felt great when I touched it, and felt like it had energy to give back, but it was just a shell. I just have to find myself some motivating factor. But I do have Transmat, and I do release other artists. But everyone seems to be following everyone else these days. It’s acquiescent.”
Jimmy: “With the difference between shopping for records as opposed to ten years ago? Now with the ocean of music in Juno and Beatport, do you find yourself going through promos, or have people finding tunes for you?”
Derrick: “90% I come across on my own. I still listen to records, and go to record shops. I have a couple of sites that email me things, and I’ll download them to, believe it or not, my iTunes folder. And I’ll burn the files to CD and play them as such. I’m super, super particular about what I download. If I play it one time and it doesn’t click, you’ll never hear me play it again. I hate to play a flop, to play a bad track and lose energy on the dancefloor, because I thought something was good on crappy headphones or some portable speakers or something. For me it’s super important to listen to everything on my own and judge music based on my feelings. Many times, I’ve come across a track that’s been out two or three years, but I’ve never heard it [until then]. And I’ll play the hell out of it, like it’s brand new. I don’t care.”
DJ Mag USA: “Often DJs and producers say that we’re in a brilliant place musically, and that the scenes are the best they’ve ever been. What do you think?”
Derrick: “We’re definitely not in a brilliant place.” Jimmy: (Laughs)
Derrick: “We’re probably in the most stagnant creative moment that we’ve ever been in. Every single vehicle of communication at our fingertips, but all there is is laziness, ignorance and lack of ability to enhance our lives with all this shit that we have in it. “We’re not supporting the creative forces around us, the young designers, the young filmmakers. We’re in this mundane kind of sedation. My question to you Jimmy would be, you being younger than me and being at the pulse of your generation, from your perspective do you feel that your friends really care? Do they have any respect for the arts? Do they see them as something to give accolade to, or simply something they’re entitled to?”
Jimmy: “This generation [is] so open now... everything at our disposal. There is still appreciation for work that is put into something. I do sincerely believe that we are on the road to something amazing, with things being accessible and free. I firmly believe that’s how everything should be, even though it doesn’t work with our routine, it doesn’t support our travelling lives, or work in what we call society today. But something needs to budge soon.”
Derrick: “I don’t know. I’m never going to
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